+15.90(+1.23%)

+0.30(+1.86%)

+0.00(+0.18%)

Why Electro Scientific Industries Shares Skyrocketed Today

What happened

Shares of Electro Scientific Industries (NASDAQ: ESIO) have skyrocketed today, up by 29% as of 11:45 a.m. EDT, after the company reported fiscal second-quarter earnings. The results came in strong across the board.

So what

Revenue in the fiscal second quarter totaled $71 million, with GAAP net income of $4.3 million, or $0.12 per share. On a non-GAAP basis, net income was $13.7 million, or $0.39 per share. Gross margin expanded to 37.4%, despite asset impairment and inventory charges related to the company's restructuring and product portfolio "pruning activities."

Now what

"We delivered a quarter of strong financial results, with revenues more than doubling from one year ago, higher gross margin, lower fixed expenses, and strong earnings," said CEO Michael Burger in a statement. "We are in an extraordinary time as we have seen a near-term inflection in growth for flexible circuit drilling equipment as a result of new materials, technologies, and applications for flexible circuits. During the quarter we received several large orders for our industry-leading 5335 series of flexible circuit drilling products. Combining our flex demand with excellent performance across our other product categories resulted in total orders for the quarter of $128.9 million."

Electro Scientific Industries closed the quarter with total cash of $81.9 million. In terms of guidance, the company expects sales in the fiscal third quarter to be in the range of $80 million to $90 million, with non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.48 to $0.60.